I was expecting a nice ride at this year’s Horsey Hundred (HH).

Unlike the Redbud Ride four weeks ago, there was no storm activity remotely in the forecast; the morning temperature was in the mid-50s, and the expected high temperature was in the high 70s or low 80s. I figured that might make the back 50 a little tough, but the front 50 would be pretty easy.

This year, the HH folks added a rest stop in Frankfort, which basically ensured that riders would never have to go more than just north of 15 miles between rest stops. And they went out of their way to ensure that none would run out of food.

I decided to go out with the Slow Ride Group (SRG), which is a really fun group of riders. We departed at 0630.

The first rest stop was at almost the 16-mile mark. It felt like ten miles. I wasn’t even sweating. I drank some water–with hydration mix–from my water bottle, and headed out.

The second rest stop was at about mile 28. We all were feeling VERY good. I still wasn’t even sweating. I ate a pack of sports beans and drank some more, and headed out.

The third rest stop was at mile 42 (Frankfort). I still wasn’t sweating. Everyone felt very good. None of us were even remotely tired. I grabbed some goodies and downed some Gatorade, refilled my water bottles, and we all headed out.

The next stop–Millville–was just past the halfway point (mile 54). It was without a doubt the easiest 54 miles I had ever ridden. I wasn’t even tired. Most of the SRG folks in my cohort also felt good. The sun was coming out, and the temperature was picking up, and I was sweating, but I still felt good. 48 miles to go.

The back 48 miles were a little tougher, but still not that bad.

The next stage featured the hills of Clifton, and that was tough, but doable. They were long, gradual climbs, but I just put it in my lower gear and plodded through. In a sinister way, it felt good.

Going into the stop at mile 64, I still felt very good. Not really tired, although my butt was starting to get sore. I downed some cookies, refilled the water bottles, and moved on.

The next stage–into mile 75–was mostly rolling hills. The rollers were tough in that some of the downhills didn’t give you great acceleration, so you still had to fight the climb. It still didn’t feel that bad. At mile 75, my legs felt great. Butt was sore, but the legs were good. I put down some food, refilled the water bottles, and went back out with the group.

At mile 85, we stopped to pick up our pins. We took a few minutes to joke around, but then got down to business.

At the last rest stop–mile 93–they were serving root beer floats. MrsLarijani was there, and we split a float. My butt and neck were sore, but my legs were good. I had her put my backpack in the car–I think that was the source of my neck pain–and hit the road for the final 8 miles.

The last 8 miles felt more like 5. At the end, other than my butt and neck, I felt great. I even went for a small jog (1 mile) at the end, just to practice bike-to-run transition.

In all, it was the best century ride I’ve ever had.

Only one bad note:

At about the same time that my SRG cohort was crossing the finish line, a drunken jackass (Odilon Paz Salvidor) veered off the side of the road on Lemons Mill Pike–right at about mile 99–and then overcorrected, plowing right into 57-year-old Mark Hinkel, a longtime century rider who was three miles away from the finish.

Hinkel was killed instantly, his body coming to rest inside the bed of Salvidor’s truck.

Salvidor attempted to flee the scene, but a deputy saw Hinkel’s body in the bed of the truck and pursued Salvidor. Salvidor was charged with DUI, murder, driving without a license, fleeing and evading, and leaving the scene of an accident. (Here is the story.)

In the 38 year history of the Horsey Hundred, that is the first fatality. And it was the result of a drunk driver, and possibly one who is an illegal immigrant.